GREELEY, Colo.—In a battle of perfection, the boys from the mountains proved to be no match for those from the plains.
Pressing and trapping all over the floor, Caliche was bigger, quicker and stronger than Crested Butte, rolling to a 69-45 victory in the boys 1A state championship game Saturday.
Cody Zink scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half, and fellow senior Craig Debus added 16 to lead Caliche to a 27-0 record and its first title since back-to-back 2A championships in 1999 and 2000.
Only two of Caliche’s 27 victories were by fewer than 15 points.
John Wright, who averaged 34.5 points in the quarterfinals and semifinals, managed only 16 for Crested Butte, which finished the season 26-1. Robbie Holleran led the Titans with 19 points.
Caliche, located in Iliff in northeastern Colorado, led by only 11 early in the third quarter before putting the game out of reach with 15-3 run. The Buffaloes pushed the advantage to as much as 26 in the fourth.
Crested Butte withstood a 13-2 run by Caliche in the first quarter and scrapped back to 17-16 in the opening seconds of the second.
Caliche, however, pushed the lead to 11 with a 14-4 run, and Zink’s 3-pointer gave the Buffaloes a 36-24 lead at the half.
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